Legal

Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged a former Valeant Pharmaceuticals executive and the ex-CEO of a specialty pharmacy for masterminding a multimillion fraud and kickback scheme that promoted the pharmacy's business for their own personal gain.

WellCare Health Plans has entered agreements that cap costly legal expenses for two former top executives convicted of defrauding Medicaid in a case that started nearly a decade ago. The settlements also allow the executives to cash in stock.

Hostilities are intensifying in the misbegotten matchup of Abbott Laboratories and Alere. The two medical products companies haven't stopped fighting since shortly after Abbott agreed in January to buy Alere for $5.8 billion.

A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi has granted a request by the American Health Care Association to bar the CMS from implementing a rule that bans arbitration agreements in skilled-nursing facilities.

The healthcare sector gained more than 31,000 jobs in October amid high demand for workers at hospitals, medical clinics and doctors' offices. Hospitals generated another 12,700 jobs. Employment across physician practices grew by 3,500 in the past month, while medical and diagnostic labs added 900...

A federal rulemaking finalized by the Obama administration earlier this year prohibits nursing facilities from entering binding arbitration agreements before a dispute arises. The provision went much further than the restrictions proposed in the draft rule and is expected to kick in on Nov. 28.

The Obama administration blasted House Republicans on Monday for inappropriately involving federal courts in their dispute over funding for the Affordable Care Act, alleging the lawmakers are trying to circumvent the Constitution with their lawsuit.